In some potentially good Las Vegas Raiders draft news, NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed on ESPN this morning that it just doesn’t feel like LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels wants to be drafted by the Washington Commanders. Saying this morning “Jayden Daniels has an interest in being other places, he just does”. Is this a surprise?
Well, not really. His agent tweeted a couple of days ago, seemingly agreeing that they were displeased in how the meeting process went with the Commanders. According to reports, the Commanders interviewed four quarterbacks, all at once. Which is not common at all. It’s actually frowned upon.
The prospects interviewed were LSU’s Jayden Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, Michigan’s JJ McCarthy, and Washington’s Michael Penix Jr.
Raiders have a strong connection to Jayden Daniels
As for the place he may be wanting to go? Well, you can take a guess. The Las Vegas Raiders and QB Jayden Daniels are very well connected because of Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce’s close connection with Daniels.
Pierce actually recruited Daniels to Arizona State and has known him since he was about 14. Daniels is also close with Raiders cornerback Jack Jones. When asked last month if the Raiders traded up for him, all he could do was smile and say he’d be super excited.
There’s also been a lot of other smoke around the situation in the last several months. Dating as far back to during the end of last season, Daniels was in attendance for the Raiders last home game of the season, a 27-14 win for the Raiders. He was also seen in the locker room celebrating the victory with the team, which is super uncommon for a top QB prospect. Daniels also won the Heisman trophy and shouted Raiders coach Antonio Pierce.
On top of all of that, a few weeks ago Daniels was on a livestream on Instagram and his friend was saying he was going to somehow end up on the Raiders. And that’s not the only incident. Current 49ers star wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk also said in a Instagram live that he will be joining Daniels on the Raiders this offseason. Of course, that’s all smoke and speculation for now.
Especially about Aiyuk joining. But as for Daniels, is it possible he’s maybe trying to pull an Eli Manning?
Manning was selected first overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers and traded to the New York Giants during the draft, because he didn’t want to play for the Chargers. He’s the only player to do that so far. Twenty years later, will Daniels do it to join the silver and black? With the 2024 NFL Draft now less than a week away and more smoke coming every day, we will see what actually happens soon enough.